Megbel

I'm a US citizen and My H has a green card, but is a British citizen. We have not lived in the U.K. since 2007.

Moses2013

Doesn't matter and still options if other locations don't work. English is still spoken elsewhere and even in the Caribbean you have Spanish, French & Dutch.


Even if taxes were higher you could save thousands on cost of living. Also easy to fly to NYC from other locations too and don't forget hurricane season depending on which island you are.

Megbel

Thank you. Yes, these are EU Islands that might want us, but too far from NYC -We do have to be able to get there quickly & easily. Lots of work in Los Angeles too for my H so as much as we love the Canaries and balearics they are not ideal for our lifestyle. Plus Brexit could actually happen. Agreed that not all The Caribbean is the same indeed. We absolutely are aware.

Moses2013

I understand but then again you could be a lot further away from NYC being on a smaller island. Panama is maybe another option. Even if Brexit rules change you still have an Irish passport so no worries there

Megbel

Yes, that's true, but even on say-Montserrat, we can easily get to Antigua and fly to NYC or Miami pretty quickly. Grenada has more and more flights to the US. I'm not sure if we can do this but I'm determined to try my best. Life is too short and The US and The UK are a mess. I'd rather be under the radar, if possible. We are highly motivated!
If Brexit does change things up then I am the only one in our family with an EU citizenship. My H and our daughters are British. It could get tricky. Our eldest is 18 and at Uni. Not a child. Everything is very uncertain.

Moses2013

It seems Montserrat would be easy enough for property owners https://www.immigration.ms/residents/guide
I can't imagine it would be easy to get to New York though?

uk_grenada

We have relatives in the bahamas, i understand the cost of living there is quite high, and the shorts [no wait, thats bermuda]! There are people here from caymens, not cheap too i think.

For sure, retirees and people with private income are a good and green industry for any island but some have serious industries that inflate costs, some are short of land, some dont like off islanders institutionally or a proportion of the public, and a few [seriously] are effectively run by a few rich folks who dont want their paradise polluted by lesser incomers.

Tax advantages exist on many islands for offshore income, but beware complex rules where the income is sourced, the taxman wants to get you.

Megbel

We would not want to buy a property until we had rented and lived somewhere for a while first.
Montserrat is a puddle jump or ferry to Antigua. It's not hard at all.

Megbel

We are really looking for quality of life first and foremost. Tax advantages are not a motivator at the moment.
Antigua is my first choice as we have friends there, there is an affordable IBL school for our youngest, we know the island extremely well and there are great direct flights to the US and U.K.

teejaydee

Yes, it's essential to be completely certain before applying for residency in Antigua because of the high government processing fees. According to the following website these are USD 50,000 for the main applicant plus USD 50,000 for the spouse, USD 50,000 for any dependent child of 18 to 25 years, and USD 25,000 for each dependent child under 18 years of age.

There are also due diligence fees of USD 7,500 for the main applicant and USD 7,500 for the spouse, USD 2,000 for any dependent child of 12 to 17 years and USD 4,000 for any dependent child of 18 to 25 years of age.

There is also a need to meet the application requirements, with the most attractive option appearing to be an investment of at least USD 400,000 into an approved real estate project.

https://www.henleyglobal.com/citizen...-requirements/

Megbel

Thank you so much for the link. Yes, could citizenship by investment is not what we are aiming for. We would be tourists who need to report to immigration every 3 months. Then hopefully would then be able to apply for temporary residency. I've been speaking to a relocation specialist/estate agent I met online and she's been able to give me a realistic breakdown. She's been on the Antigua for 11 years, is a UK citizen, owns a home and started out on a tourist visa. Nothing is ever guaranteed but it seems that many are able to do this.

uk_grenada

There's a reason why it's easy to go to Montserrat at the moment, remember that more than half of the island is off limits following their volcano, and they lost to a lot of the best resources in that event.

Never liked antigua much myself, too dry and not enough good local resouces, but to each their own. So long as you stay a year and commit nothing financially in that period you should know at the end.

Suggest you find copies of 2 out of print oldish books, how to live in the caribbean and how to retire in the caribbean, both very informative. Living on an island is VERY different to visiting it, beware of holiday syndrome, the needs and likes become quite different over time.

dfjordan

To go back to the beginning of this thread, it seems like you want to try and hide yourselves in some spot in the Caribbean because you think that the US and the UK are in a mess. I question that idea but each to his own opinion. If all your income is offshore then what does it matter? I may well be wrong, but I dont hear of anywhere in the Caribbean that is well managed and booming except those in the drug trade, and "permanent " residence is not guaranteed to be permanent. If I were in your situation, I'd be thinking about the future of my child rather than which island would suit my preferences.

Sabi Star

Megbel - have you considered Nevis ?- which I prefer to St Kitts or Antigua. It has a passport plan etc so you would probably get in there. It is quite small though. You can see Montserrat from Nevis. Have you been to Montserrat? I did not like it even before the volcano erupted! Barbados is quite different of course. St Martin is up market. Both Nevis and St Martin have scary landing strips! All the islands are different. Good luck with your search.

Megbel

Wow! That's almost offensive and actually rather rude. You know nothing about my family or I, so instead of making a query, you'd rather just jump in there and assume and judge. Just the kind of people we need on this planet. FYI-There is a fantastic IBL school in Antigua, that's why I prefer it first and foremost.
The US and The UK are a mess and I don't have to live in either. LUCKY ME!!!! You are not in my situation. Yes, I actually have lived in both countries, so it's my families experiences and opinions that matter to me.
"If all our income is offshore why does it matter?" Oh, maybe because we actually care about our quality of life and our children's so we choose to look farther afield rather than sit around and complain and do nothing like most seem to do. Imagine that? Looking for an alternative?